However, when one speaker talks at length, what he says is formed into paragraphs according to the divisions into which it falls. (See [Chapter XIV].)
When a short quotation is simply part of a paragraph, it is punctuated as follows:
This, however, was of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind. Often when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, "Don't give too much for the whistle," and I saved my money.
Paragraph the following:
1
On the next morning we had gone but a mile or two when we came to an extensive belt of woods, through the midst of which ran a stream, wide, deep, and of an appearance particularly muddy and treacherous. In plunged the cart, but midway it stuck fast. Then approached the long team and heavy wagon of our friends, but it paused on the brink. "Now my advice is,—" began the captain, who had been anxiously contemplating the muddy gulf. "Drive on!" cried R. But Wright, the muleteer, apparently had not as yet decided the point in his own mind. He sat still in his seat on one of the shaft-mules, whistling in a low, contemplative strain to himself. "My advice is," resumed the captain, "that we unload; for I'll bet any man five pounds that if we try to go through, we shall stick fast." "By the powers, we shall stick fast!" echoed Jack, the captain's brother, shaking his large head with an air of conviction. "Drive on! drive on!" petulantly cried R. "Well," observed the captain, turning to us as we sat looking on, "I can only give my advice; and if people won't be reasonable, why, they won't, that's all!"—Parkman: The Oregon Trail.
2
Rebecca walked up the lane and went to the side door. There was a porch there. Seated in a rocking-chair, husking corn, was a good-looking young man. Rebecca was a trifle shy at this encounter, but there was nothing to do except explain her presence; so she asked, "Is the lady of the house at home?." "I am the lady of the house at present," said the stranger with a whimsical smile. "What can I do for you?" "Have you ever heard of the—would you like—er I mean, do you need any soap?" queried Rebecca. "Do I look as if I do?" he responded unexpectedly. Rebecca dimpled. "I didn't mean that; I have some soap to sell; I mean I would like to introduce to you a very remarkable soap, the best now on the market. It is called the—" "Oh! I must know that soap," said the gentleman genially. "Made out of pure vegetable fats, isn't it?" "The very purest," corroborated Rebecca. "No acid in it?" "Not a trace." "And yet a child could do the Monday washing with it and use no force?" "A babe," corrected Rebecca. "Oh! a babe, eh? That child grows younger every year, instead of older—wise child!"—Wiggin: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.
Change the following from indirect to direct discourse and paragraph:
When Whittier went on his first fishing trip, it was a day in early summer. The long afternoon shadows lay cool on the grass. The boy said that the flowers seemed brighter and the birds merrier than ever before. When they came to a bend in the river, his uncle said that this was a good place to try. He told the boy to throw out his line as he had seen others do and move it on the surface of the water in imitation of the leap of a frog. The boy did as he was told, but he caught no fish. His uncle said that he should try again. Suddenly the bait sank out of sight, and the boy cried out that he had caught a fish at last. As he spoke, he pulled up a tangle of weeds. His uncle said that he should try again, because fishermen must have patience. In a moment the boy felt something tug at his line, and as he jerked it up, he saw a fine pickerel wriggling in the sun. In uncontrollable excitement he called out to his uncle, telling him to look at the big pickerel. His uncle said that the boy didn't have it yet, and as he spoke there was a splash in the water, and the boy's hook hung empty. His uncle assured him that there were more fish in the river, but the boy would not be comforted. His uncle smiled shrewdly and told Whittier to remember never to brag of catching a fish until it was on dry land. He said that he had seen older people doing that in more ways than one, and so making fools of themselves. He said that it was better not to boast of doing a thing until it was done.